Masteries

Offense:
9

Defense:
21

Utility:
0

Ok, with the meta as it currently is, DPS is pretty much EVERYWHERE. Gragas is a perfect counter to DPS, because of his passive, Drunken Rage and the AS debuff off of Barrel roll.

SET UP:
Masteries and runes a pretty typical for a tank, health, armor and magic resist. the Spell pen is to make your belly, Barrel and Cask hit really hard, plus you are getting some spell pen from masteries as well. Summoner spells are a little more flexible, but i always go with Ghost for sure, the second spell could be up to you. I use Cleanse to stop all the nasty CC. Other good choices are Clairity for early game mana issues, Flash to double jump walls, or Fortify to help last hit minions and protect towers.

EALRY GAME:
Get a Doran ring and try to get a solo lane, either mid or if there's a jungler go for the top lane. Your main object early game is to farm, try to ignore the opponents in you lane as often as possible and get those last hits. They harrass you? give 'em a Barrel. You should also always keep rage up, as this is the single most important ability you have. The pure damaghe reduction applies after resistance so an Ashe arrow that would hit for 300 will hit for around 100. Fisrt trip back get Catalyst and a pair of boots, and if possible try to get the Fairie Charms that you'll need for Locket. just keep farming, use barrel to counter harass and keep Rage up.

MID GAME:
By now you should have Locket, and have or started on Visage. The combo of those two along with you passive make you incredibly hard to harass. Once you are comfortable you can kill them, throw Cask, then Belly Bump and roll a barrel in the direction they will try to run. That should do it, but if it doesn't, don't be discouraged. Your ult is on a really low cooldown and with the CDR you get you'll be throwing Casks alot. Try to get Blue buff whenever possible, as the CDR and mana from this makes you lane forever.

LATE GAME:

Finish up the core items you need against the opposing team. If they are caster heavy, get Force and Abyssal Scepter. Lots of physical? Go Randuim and thornmail. Got a mix? get Randuim and force. I usually fill out the last slot with Aegis if im doing well, or Guardian if im not. Adapt the boots to the team as well, if they aren't CC heavy get Sorcerer Boots, if they are get Merc Treads. Now the objective you have is to use Cask to isolate a foe or two and let your team shred them while the opponents are spread out. Once you do that you should be able to push the lane regardless of what they do. With your Rage up and the items you have you can tank a tower for a full 20 seconds before needing to retreat, and that's only if you don't use abilities while there.

YOUR WEAKNESS:
Burst. That's pretty much the thing that will kill you the most. Olaf, Veigar and Kassadin are your worst foes, but if your team focuses them early and often they wont pose that much of a threat to you later on. Dont let yourself get focused by those champs and you should be sitting pretty.

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